The Spectacle (Continued)

"That flower wreath," Zhou Fu gestured. "Didn't the chieftain make you a flower wreath himself? Did he bring it back yesterday? He had a big smile on his face this morning; he must be in a good mood. He should have given it to you."

Jian Mo: "You guys are really observant."

Xi Lu: "Actually, the chief had asked for his share of the metal before, and we were all quite curious. Later, word spread from the Dianxin Tribe that the chief had asked them to help design a wreath, and that's when we found out."

It was only then that Jian Mo belatedly realized that Wu Jiong didn't have a metal knife and was still using a seashell knife.

He thought Wu Jiong was a man of noble character, but he never expected that Wu Jiong had taken that piece of metal and used it for something else.

Zhou Fu nudged Jian Mo with his elbow. "Can we watch the wreath? What does the clan chief's wreath look like? Isn't this your token of love?"

Jian Mo readily agreed, "Wait a moment, I'll go upstairs to get it."

The wreath was so beautiful that Jian Mo bear to keep it hidden in a box, never seeing the light of day.

Besides, Wu Jiong made it himself, Jian Mo actually wanted to show it off a bit.

Soon, Jian Mo came down carrying the flower wreath.

Everyone looked at him and the wreath in his hand.

The clash of metal and glass, the contrast between black and color, the interplay of hardness and fragility—all these contrasts make this wreath incredibly striking.

Zhou Fu and the others stared in astonishment, their mouths agape.

Jian Mo came over carrying the flower wreath. "You can look at it, but you can't touch it. I'll be heartbroken if you damage it."

Xi Lu exclaimed, "Such a beautiful wreath, who could bear to touch it?"

Zhou Fu was practically drooling. "They're so beautiful! Much prettier than real flowers!"

Another sub-orc said, "Metal is so hard, and glass is so fragile. How long would it take to make this wreath?"

Xi Lu: "It was made by the clan chief himself. He has little experience, so it was even more difficult for him."

Listening to their back-and-forth banter, Jian Mo smiled and said, "Yes, so thank you for his kind gesture."

Zhou Fu leaned back and sighed, "Ah, how wonderful! I've seen it all, I'm satisfied."

After seeing the flower wreaths, everyone continued drinking tea.

Zhou Fu's round eyes widened in amazement. "Yesterday you said you were going to apply for materials to build a house, and we were all shocked, thinking you were going to move out. We didn't expect things to take such a turn for the better so quickly."

Jian Mo helplessly, "How do you guys get such good information?"

Zhou Fu: "Qing Kuo stopped the clan chief on the road and said it, he wasn't hiding from us, we all heard it."

At this point, Zhou Fu said with a wicked grin, "Jian Mo, you did this on purpose, didn't you?"

Jian Mo admitted, "I thought Wu Jiong wasn't interested in me, or that he was being too indecisive, so I wanted to annoy him."

Everyone started to cheer.

When Jian Mo first came to the tribe, she was actually a bit withdrawn and timid, but now she is much more cheerful and has a radiant aura.

Everyone looked at him with expressions of deep emotion.

After having tea and giving Jian Mo the gifts they had brought, everyone took their leave.

Jian Mo looked at the gifts they had given her, her expression quite subtle, but she said nothing and simply stuffed the small jar of ointment deep into the box.

As expected of a sub-orc with a partner, their openness is truly unmatched—and the same goes for those with potential partners.

Wu Jiong and his group were gone for five days, and they didn't return until the evening of the fifth day.

Besides carrying back metal blocks, each person also carried four large baskets of ore.

Jian Mo noticed he had lost weight and started preparing a large meal, asking him, "How did you carry so much ore back? That must have been too much work."

Wu Jiong didn't hide anything. "We didn't trade ore with the Jintuo Tribe. We went around to the downstream area of their tribe and scooped it up from unclaimed land."

Jian Mo: "No wonder you took so long this time. I thought you were just going to exchange the ore."

Wu Jiong: "If we exchange so much ore, the Jintuo Tribe will likely become suspicious. If they find out we have the technology to refine metals, and we have absolutely no ore here, it will easily lead to conflict. If that causes a war, the consequences will be severe."

Jian Mo nodded in understanding. The Jintuo Tribe relied almost entirely on mining for their livelihood, and even their food was mostly obtained through bartering metal tools. It was impossible for them to give up the metal business.

Wu Jiong: "We've brought back a lot of metal blocks, and we'll tell everyone that our metal utensils are all made from metal blocks."

Jian Mo: "We need to have a meeting with the people in the tribe to make sure nothing gets out."

Wu Jiong: "Let's talk about it in a couple of days. When we went there this time, the Jintuo Tribe wanted to exchange our glassmaking technology. After learning that we can smelt metals, and that our metal utensils are of higher purity than theirs, they also want to exchange our metal smelting technology."

Jian Mo was surprised that the Jintuo Tribe had brought this up before. "So, did you agree?"

Wu Jiong: "No. You provided both of these technologies. We said we'd come back to discuss it with you. Do you want to switch?"

Jian Mo thought for a moment, "What will I use to exchange it?"

Wu Jiong: "They are willing to exchange a large amount of metal blocks. If the deal goes through, it will be much easier to conceal our metal tools in the future. Moreover, smelting metal requires many steps, so exchanging them directly for metal blocks will save a lot of effort."

The Jintuo Tribe possesses high-quality natural mineral veins, from which alloys can be directly extracted.

Unlike here, where smelting metal requires starting with mining ore, then transporting it, burning charcoal, firing kilns, and so on, each step requires a large amount of labor and is very arduous.

If we could directly exchange it for a metal block, things would indeed be much simpler.

Jian Mo, "Is this a decision I can make? Can I just change it if I say so?"

Wu Jiong: "I've discussed it with Qing Kuo and the others, and we feel there are benefits to both exchanging and not exchanging. We took the mineral sand from the Jintuo Tribe and owe them a favor, so currently everyone is more inclined to exchange it with them."

Jian Mo: "Exchange is possible. But forget about glass. Glass involves alkali, and alkali can melt mineral sand, so exchanging it is too risky. I think we can exchange the charcoal-making technology and help them upgrade their furnaces so they can produce metals with fewer impurities. That should be enough."